“Throughout history, it was far from rare for nations to discriminate based on things like race and heritage. In fact, while in the southern continent most nations were composed of many races that lived together with one another, it was more common in the north for them to segregate and discriminate against one another.

One of the longest-lasting examples of this kind of nation was the Kingdom Down Under, or Göttmøræghthœthangmär as they called it in the old dwarven tongue. For many generations, the Kingdom only allowed dwarves to access its subterranean territory, whilst non-dwarven races and visitors were consigned to the aboveground settlements on the outer periphery of the Kingdom’s territory.

These policies only changed relatively recently, with the first forays towards greater inclusion and acceptance made around seven centuries ago, briefly interrupted around five centuries ago, then renewed with fervor shortly after that.

It was perhaps difficult to imagine for youngsters who had only known the Kingdom as of the past four centuries or so, but such were the facts.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 695 FP.

“The seal on the letter is genuine, let them through,” said a gruff-sounding dwarven guard at one of the entrances to the Kingdom Down Under’s underground territory. It was the first time Aideen had ventured so deep into the reclusive dwarven kingdom’s land, and the only reason she was allowed through was a combination of her own identity as well as the introduction letter she received from both Knallzog’s king and Henrietta.

This far out near the periphery though, all it took was a check on the letter’s seal to let her group pass. The guard had not even touched the letter in any other way, holding the letter gently using a clean sheet of cloth instead. Even the guards were well aware that genuine documents from people that were highly ranked amongst their neighboring rival kingdom needed to be treated with care lest it turned into a troublesome mess.

The entrance itself looked almost like a simple cave if not for the heavily manned guard post built right at the cave’s mouth. The post was fortified to the point that it would have likely served well as a defensive fortification to defend against enemies from outside the cave, something that was very noticeable after they were let in. The defenses and various emplacements faced outwards, with none facing inwards.

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While they walked down the cave, though, they noticed how the “road” they walked on remained smooth and level despite the otherwise natural looks of the walls and ceiling around them. Clearly the dwarves from the Kingdom Down Under had worked the cave’s floor to its current state, yet an inattentive eye might not have noticed the evidence of their efforts.

When the group emerged into the first large cavern further within, they noticed another difference to the dwarven nations they had been to in the past. Underground regions in both Hassid and Knallzog always had a rather utilitarian look to them, a very function over form sort of approach common to dwarves in general. The buildings the group saw, however, were similar yet different to that approach.

Although the dwarves from the Kingdom Down Under still built their underground dwellings and residences with a similar approach, there was a far more natural look to the cavern. It was as if every building and residence was simply dug inside a conveniently located natural structure, though in reality it was more likely that the dwarves had fashioned the place to look that way instead

Such a feat was easy enough when the dwarves definitely had plenty of skilled stone workers and many mages of the Earth affinity. In fact, Earth and its derivatives – other than Nature – was by far the most common affinitive to be found amongst dwarves, which led some of them to consider themselves as children of the ground they lived in.

Other than the difference in aesthetics, the more natural look of the Kingdom Down Under to the more utilitarian looks elsewhere, there was surprisingly little difference between the city and the other underground dwarven Cities Aideen’s group had visited before. The place was always a bit low on the ceiling – especially for Áine, Rhys, and Eilonwy – while otherwise being broader than they were used to. That was mainly due to the shorter, broader stature of the dwarves themselves, though.

The air was pleasant and quite fresh despite being underground, proof of good ventilation like other dwarven underground cities. Lighting was more sporadic, mostly prevalent in places of learning and commerce where being able to see color and read was more important. Dwarves themselves had the best dark vision amongst all the races, since they originally lived underground.

Few amongst even the most conservative dwarves could deny the convenience of being able to see colors and read written words, though.

Sure, the dwarves had their own ancient writing system that involved grooves and dots chiseled into stones, but those were far more troublesome to produce compared to writing with ink on parchment of paper, and practically no non-dwarven foreigner knew how to read them. In the end, convenience won over tradition, and it wasn’t even much of a fight.

The increase in the amount of lighting was mostly beneficial for Aideen, Celia, and Kino, since those of elven heritage like the siblings also possessed great dark vision, though not as good as the dwarves. Humans were notoriously horrible when it came to seeing in the dark, however, and becoming Unliving did nothing to alleviate that issue.

As for Kino, she could see better in the dark compared to Aideen and Celia, but still nowhere as well as the siblings could. Her therian blood was very thin, and she was much closer to a human in many ways. While she still possessed a notably sharper sense of hearing and a much sharper sense of smell, her sight was little better than a human’s.